Conservative Media’s Ascension: Cable News, Late-Night, and Newspapers
An analysis of 2025 audience and subscription figures for major U.S. media outlets shows significant differences in reach across cable news, late-night television, and print/digital newspapers. The data indicates clear disparities in audience size among outlets with conservative outlets outpacing liberal outlets.
Cable News (Q2 2025, Nielsen Data)
Fox News averaged 2.633 million primetime viewers, with 304,000 in the 25–54 advertising demo, marking a 25% year-over-year increase in total viewers. Fox has maintained the top cable news position for 94 consecutive quarters.
MSNBC averaged 1.008 million primetime viewers, with 91,000 in the demo, representing a 15% year-over-year decline.
CNN averaged 538,000 primetime viewers, with 105,000 in the demo, down 13% in total viewers compared to the previous year.
Late-Night Television (Most Recent Available Nielsen/Industry Data)
Gutfeld! (Fox News) averaged approximately 2.5 million viewers in 2024, with multiple 2025 episodes surpassing 3 million.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert averaged 2.42 million viewers in Q2 2025.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 1.77 million viewers in Q2 2025.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon averaged 1.19 million viewers in Q2 2025.
Newspaper Readership / Circulation (2025 or Most Recent Available)
The New York Times reported 11.88 million total subscribers in 2025, including 11.3 million digital-only subscribers.
The Wall Street Journal reported 4.13 million digital-only subscribers in fiscal year 2025.
USA Today reported 2 million digital subscribers and 132,640 print subscribers in 2023 (latest available).
The Los Angeles Times reported daily print circulation of 79,000 as of February 2025.
The New York Post reported daily print circulation of 122,000 as of September 2024 and 85 million monthly unique users as of March 2025.
Observations
Cable News – Fox News’ primetime audience in 2025 is more than double that of MSNBC and nearly five times CNN’s, showing a significant gap in total viewers.
Late-Night Television – Gutfeld! has outperformed other late-night shows in average viewership, surpassing Colbert, Kimmel, and Fallon in the latest available year of data.
Newspapers – The New York Times leads in total subscriptions across all major newspapers, while The Wall Street Journal holds the largest digital subscriber base among right-leaning publications. The New York Post’s digital reach far exceeds its print circulation.
Conclusions
Conservative outlets are outpacing the liberal media outlets significantly. Polls indicate a lack of trust with the left leaning media stating their credibility is in question.
References
Adweek. (2025). Here are the 2nd quarter of 2025 cable news ratings. Adweek TVNewser.
LateNighter. (2025). Q2 2025 late-night television ratings. LateNighter.
The New York Times Company. (2025). Q2 2025 earnings report. The New York Times Company.
News Corp. (2025). Fiscal year 2025 earnings release. News Corp.
Gannett Co., Inc. (2023). Annual report 2023. Gannett Co., Inc.
Nieman Lab. (2025). Daily print circulation at the L.A. Times falls to 79,000. Nieman Lab.
Press Gazette. (2025). Global ranking of paywalled news publishers by digital subscriptions. Press Gazette.
InfluenceWatch. (2024). New York Post. InfluenceWatch.
